[goat granny]

The end of the latin mass was bad. You could go into any church in the world and say the prayers along with others as there was a common language in the Mass....Now you have to speak in hundreds of languages to follow Mass...

[Cicero]

Agreed.

As I mentioned on another thread, I was a Catholic convert in college. But it took practically no time at all to learn all the Latin responses and also learn to be a Mass server.

For those who grew up as Catholics, it was no problem at all.

[bronxville]

“You could go into any church in the world and say the prayers along with others as there was a common language in the Mass....Now you have to speak in hundreds of languages to follow Mass...”

I travel abroad a lot and experience the loss of the Latin Mass profoundly. Vat II was hijacked...today we have a separation into groups, not only in the secular world, but also in the Church. I went to a Mass in the Bronx a few weeks ago and it was in Spanish...hence the congregation and Mass was in Spanish...how I wished it was in Latin.

[NYer]

The end of the latin mass was bad. You could go into any church in the world and say the prayers along with others as there was a common language in the Mass.

When I was a child, my mother worked for Scandinavian Airlines, which entitled her to discounted travel benefits. (this was pre VCII). On each of our trips to Europe, no matter which city we visited, we could follow the Mass as it was universally in the Latin language. It always struck me odd that as international travel began to grow in popularity, beginning in the late 60s, the Catholic Church should adopt the vernacular language for its celebration. That meant that foreign visitors could no longer follow the Mass in the countries they visited. On the other hand, it also resulted in a greater participation by the local laity.

In so doing, the Eastern Catholic Churches have also adopted the practice of offering the liturgy in the vernacular. This has opened their doors to other catholics who can now understand and participate in their liturgies. Personally speaking, I have been most blessed at the opportunity to grow deeper in my catholic faith while also returning to God a portion of His gifts through parish activities.

Every coin has two faces. As Catholics, our goal should be to use our God given talents to assist the church, rather than critique it, regardless of the liturgy offered.